Method of and apparatus for controlled heating of enclosures



1952 H. w. HUBERS, JR

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLED HEATING OF ENCLOSURES Filed Sept. 28. 1949 4 Sheets-Shet 1 N at INVEN TOR h. W HUBERS, JR.

A T Tom/E Y 1952 H. w. HUBERS, JR 2,587,322

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLED HEATING 0F ENCLOSURES Filed Sept. 28. 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 .hllhhhhhhf FIG. 3

R m w W H. W HUBERS, JR.

ATTORNEY FIG; 4

Feb. 26, 1952 H. W. HUBERS, JR METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLED HEATING OF ENCLOSURES Filed Sept. 28. 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet 3' IN [/5 N TOR A TTORNE Y H. WHUBERSJR Feb. 26, 1952 w, HUBERS, JR 2,587,322

METHOD OF" AND APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLED HEATING OF ENCLOSURES 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Sept. 28. 1949 INVENTOR ATTORNEY H. W HUBERSZJR Patented Feb. 26, 1952 METHOD OFAND APPARATUS FOR CON TROLLED HEATING OF ENCLOSURES Herman. W. Hubers, Jr., Essex, Md., assignor to Western Electric Com York, N. Y.,, a corpor pany, Incorporated, New

ation of New York Application September 28, 1949, Serial No. 118,318

6 Claims.

This invention relates to methods and appara-- (ms for controlled heating of enclosures, and more particularly to methods of and apparatus for controlled heating of enclosures having openings therein.

Shipping operations to and from buildings, such: as, for example, factories and warehouses, often require having the outside doors open for substantial periods of time in weather sufficiently cold that heating systems known heretofore have been incapable of maintaining the interiors of the buildings at" temperatures that were uniform, healthfuland comfortable to persons working. therein.

An object of this invention is to provide new and improved methods of and apparatus for con trolled heating of enclosures.

A further object of this invention istoprovide neW'a-nd improved methods'of and. apparatus for controlledheating of enclosures having openings therein.

Another" object of this invention is" to provide new and improved methods of' and apparatus forv minimizing the-eiiects' of openexterior doors of buildings uponthe temperature of the buildings during cold weather".

A method illustrating certain features of the invention may include blowing a; sheet of warm airacross a doorwaywhen the doorway is open.

An apparatus illustrating certain features of the invention may include an enclosure having a doorway, a door movable between open and closed positions, means for heating the portion of the enclosure immediatelyadjacent to the doorway, and means responsive to the position of the door and the temperature outside the doorway for actuatingthe enclosure-heating means when the door is in an open position and the temperature outside the doorway is below apredetermined temperature.

A complete understanding of the invention may be obtained from the following detailed description of amethod and" an apparatus forming specific embodimentsthereof; when read in conjunction with the appendeddrawings, in which:

Fig; 1 is a fragmentary, vertical section of an apparatus for practicing a method forming: an embodiment: of" theinvention;

2"is an enlarged-,fragmentary; vertical sec titm: of. a portion of: the apparatus shown in: Fig; 11;:

Fig. 3 is an enlarged; fragmentary; vertical sectiomtaken alnglinei3'-3 offFig; 1;'

Fig. 4; isarr enlarged. fragmentary, vertical sectiomtakeni along. line 4'-4; of Fig; 1.;

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic viewof' a portion of is shown therein an interlocking system for con-' trolling the temperature inside anauto court 9 including an exterior door" 1' and interior door 8 4 so. that the exterior door cannot-be opened the The system. includes ainterior' door is open. manually'operable; momentary switch: l0 (Fig. 5) positioned between agrounded conductor II and a conductor of a three-phase. power" line l3 for energizinga holding relay winding l2, a normally closed limit switch I41 closed when. the interior dooris moved from its closed position andv opened by a lug. l5: movable by a: distributor screw' I3. (Fig. 3') driven. in. synchronization with the interior door when: the interior door is closed. If the interior'door is-open, the limit switch l4 (Fig. 6) is closed and a winding l6. of a relay I1 is energized toclose contacts [8. The relay winding: [2: is energized when the contacts l8 and the switch: Mr is closed", and closes holding contacts 201 to light a lamp; 22 indicating to an attendant. insidekthe building that someone is at the exterior door-=and-iwishes the attendant to close the interior door. A bell 24? (Fig; 5) is energized only whiletheswitch' i0 is heldv closed.

If'theinterior door 8 (Fig. 1): is. closed: so that the-switch; I4. is open, to open. the exterior door 1,. one of three sets; of manually" operable interlocked switch: contacts 26 and. 21', 28 and 29, and

3.0- and. 31;, locatedoutsidethe exterior door, in-- side the exteriondoor and inside the interior. door, respectively, maybe actuated to open one of the contacts 26,-28 and 30 and close the correspondingv one of. the contacts 2:", 29 and 3| to energize a: holding relay winding 32 of a relay 33. which. closes holding contacts: 34 and contacts 36-36 to' energizea motor 38 to drive a shaft 31 in a direction: to; open the exterior door. As the ex terior door arrives at its open position a limitv switch; 40 is opened by a lug'39 movable by a screw 4| driven in synchronization. with. the

movementof. the door! tostop the motor 38, and.

a limit'switch42. was closed as the door 1 moved. awayfrom. its closed position. and a lug 43 moved. out. of engagement. with the-switch 42 to permit subsequent closing of the: door.

Closing of the switch 42 causes energization of arelay winding 44 of. a relay 45 to close switch contacts 46 in series with an outside thermostatic: switch 418 and in. parallel. with an. inside thermo- 59. The contactor 41 also may static switch 50. The thermostatic switch 50 is closed if the temperature at its location is below room temperature, and the thermostatic switch 48 is closed when the temperature outside the exterior door 1 is below 50 F. When either of these thermostats is closed and a manually operable contactor 41 is in engagement with a contact 49 in series with the thermostatic switches 48 and 50, a relay winding 52 of a relay 53 is energized to close contacts 54-54 to a heater fan motor 55. The motor 56 drives a fan 51 (Fig. 1) of a heater 58 to blow a curtain of warm air across the exterior door opening thereby preventing undue cooling of the motor court. Operation of a heater 55 is controlled by an inside thermostatic switch be set selectively in engagement with a dummy contact BI and a contact 63 in parallel with the switches 48 and 50 and the contacts 46 of the relay 45. The heaters 55 and 58 are steam heated, and hot air is blown therethrough.

After the exterior door 1 is opened, a truck may be driven up to the interior door 8 and oneof manually operable contacts 60, 62 and 64, located outside the exterior door 1, inside the auto court and inside the building, respectively, may be actuated manually to close a corresponding one of contacts 66, 68 and 10 (Fig. 5) interlocked therewith. This energizes a relay winding 12 of a relay 13 to close holding contacts 14 and motor controlling contacts 16--16 to drive the motor 38 in a door closing direction. When the exterior door gets to closed position, the limit switch 40 is closed and the limit switch 42 is opened to stop the motor 38 and to break the circuit to the relay winding 44. A limit switch (Fig. 4) openable by a lug 11 driven by a screw 18 is closed whenever the door 1 is not fully open to cause energization of an exhaust fan motor 19 (Fig. 6). Deenergization of the winding 44 (Fig. 5) opens contacts 48 to stop energization of the motor 56 by the outside thermostat 48.

After the exterior door 1 (Fig. 1) is closed, the

interior door 8 may be opened. If it is desired to open the interior door 8 to its fullest extent, one of manually operable contacts 80 and 82 (Figs. 1 and 6) is ing one of contacts 84 and 86 interlocked therewith is closed. This closes a circuit through the closed one of the contacts 84 and 86 through a relay winding 89 of a relay 89 to close relay contacts 90-90 to cause energization of an interior door motor 94 to drive a shaft 93 in a direction opening the interior door. The interior door is moved'upwardly, permitting the limit switch I4 to close, until it has been raised to its wide open position at which time a limit switch 96 is opened by a lug 95 to stop the motor 94. As the interior door was raised to a predetermined partially open position, a limit switch 96 was opened by a lug 91 without affecting the motor circuit. The lugs 95 and 91 are movable by the screw 99 and the screw I3, respectively, in synchronization with the movement of the interior door.

To close the interior door 8, one of manually operable switch contacts I00 and I02 (Figs. 1 and 6) located in the auto court and in the building, respectively, is opened, thereby closing the corresponding one of contacts I04 and I06. Closing the one of the contacts I04 and I06 closes a circuit through a relay winding I08 of a relay I09, the limit switch l4 having been closed by opening the interior door. The relay winding I08 then closes motor contacts IIO-I I0 and holding contacts I I2 to reverse the motor 94 to close the opened, whereby a correspondinterior door. As the door is moved closed, the limit switches 98 and 98 are closed successively by movement of the lugs 95 and 91 and the limit switch I4 is opened at the end of the closing movement, thereby deenergizing the motor 94.

To open the interior door to its partially open position only so that time may be saved in the opening of that door in instances when the door 6 need not be fully opened for loading and unloading operations, one of manually operable, momentary switch contacts I20 and I22 is opened, thereby closing the corresponding one of contacts I24 and I26 interlocked with the contacts I20 and I22, respectively, which closes the circuit to a relay winding I28 of a relay I29. This closes holding contacts I30 and contacts I32, and opens contacts I34 to prevent operation of the circuit for opening the door completely. Closing of contacts I30 keeps the relay winding I28 energized, and closing of contacts I32 causes energization of the relay winding 88 to run the motor 94 in a door-opening direction. As the interior door reaches its partially open position, the limit switch 98 (Fifs. 3 and 6) is opened by the lug 91 to stop the door at that position.

The interior door may be closed from its partially open position by actuating one of the switch contacts I00 and I62. Closing of the interior door causes the lug I5 to open the limit switch I4, which deenergizes the relay I6 so that contacts I40 reclose to permit the exterior door to be opened. Similarly, when the exterior door 1 is open the limit switch 42 is closed so that the relay winding 44 is energized, thereby opening contacts I42 and preventing operation of the interior door 8.

Limit switches I50 (Fig. 6) and I52 (Fig. 5) are openable by manually operative hoists opening and closing the interior door 8 and the exterior door 1, respectively, to stop push button operation of that door being operated by the manually operative hoist therefor. Switch contacts I60 and I62 interlocked with the switch contacts and 82, respectively, protect the windings 88 and I08, which are mechanically interlocked, from strain if both one of the contacts 80 and 82 and one of the contacts I00 and I02 are actuated simultaneously by accident.

Certain features of the interlocking door-control system described hereinabove are disclosed and claimed in patent No. 2,559,301, granted July 3, 1951.

Whenever the exterior door 1 is moved away from its fully closed position, the switch contacts 42 are closed to energize the winding 44 to close switch contacts 46 in series with the outside thermostatic switch 48. If the temperature outside the door 1 is below the predetermined minimum temperature at which the switch 48 opens, the switch 48 is closed and causing the relay winding 52 to be energized to close contacts 54-54 to the heater fan motor 56. The motor 56 drives the fan 51 of the heater near the door to blow a curtain of warm air across the door opening thereby preventing undue cooling of the motor court. This occurs whenever the door 1 is open and the outside temperature is below the predetermined value regardless of the inside temperature in the court. If the outside temperature is above said value, above which the court would not be unduly cooled when the exterior door is open, the switch 48 is open and only the indoor thermostatic switch 50 controls the operation oi the fan motor. Whenever the exterior door is in its closed position, the relay contacts 46 in series 'aeeaeea with: the switch 48- are-open 'so that-the: outside temperature-then has no efiec-t on. the operation of the fan motor 56 (Fig.

Contacts Finland 82 '(Figs. 5 and 6 of a keyoperable" switch 1'84 are provided in series with relay windings 44 and It, respectively; In periods of coldweather thecon-tacts' l=80and l 82 are closed so that the relays I 'I- and 45 are operati ve to interconnect the circuits controlling the opening and closing of the doors. In summer, when no heating of the auto court is needed, the contacts tdllaand' I82. areopened so that each door may be operated independentlyof the other and, the circuit to the; thermostatic switches 48 and 50 is broken. A key switch I99 may be opened in summer toprevent operation ofthe exhaust fan 'motor Til -since the exterior door is kept open during warmweather andexhaust fumes fromtrucksneed not be drawn artificially-from the auto court.

Operation 1 is moved away the switch 42 is the switch 48 is closed causing the relay winding 52 to be energized to close contacts 54-54 to the heater fan motor 56. The motor 56 drives the fan 5'! of the heater near the door to blow a curtain of warm air across the door opening thereby preventing undue cooling of the motor court."

This occurs whenever the door 1 is open and the outside temperature is below the predetermined value regardless of the inside temperature in the court. If the outside temperature is above said value, above which the court would not be unduly cooled when the exterior door is open, the switch 48 is open and only the indoor thermostatic switch 50 controls the operation of the fan motor. Whenever the exterior door is in its closed position, the relay contacts 46 in series with the switch 48 are open so that the outside temperature then has no efiect on the operation of the fan motor.

The unit heater is actuated whenever the temperature in the auto court is below a predetermined value, for example 70 of the thermostatic switch 59. The system including the heaters 55 and 58 keep the auto court interior at a comfortable temperatureat all times in cold weather, whether or not the exterior door 1 is closed.

The method and apparatus described hereinabove provide a curtain of warm air across the exterior doorway whenever the exterior door 1 is open and the outside temperature is too cold. Thus, the effect of the outside temperature on the interior temperature is kept to a minimum even though the exterior temperature is very low and the exterior door is open for considerable periods of time. Maintaining the auto court at a comfortable temperature also keeps the area in the building beyond the auto court at a comfortable temperature.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for controlling temperatures of rooms, which comprises a room having a doorway, a door movable between open and closed positions, a heater for heating air, a fan for blowing air through the heater transversely across the doorway. an electric motor for driving the 44 to close the F., by closing 6 fan, a power line; a-reIay-having awindingand contactsinseries with-the motor and the power line,- a" thermostatic switch positioned inside the room ihserieswith the relay winding and clos--' able when the temperature in the room is below a predetermined point for energizing the motor, a second thermostatic "switch positioned outside the room in series with-the relay winding and in paralleii with the first-mentioned switch, said second-mentioned switch being closable when the: outside temperature. is below a predetermined valua. ahthird switch closable by the doorasthe dooris. openediin series with the relay winding and the second-mentioned thermostatic switch,- and a manually operable switch. having a con tactiinzseriies with the thermostatic switches, a contact, in parallel. with the thermostatic switches and the thirds-mentioned switch and. a. contactormovable into selective engagement with the-contacts and in series with the relay winding. I r

2. The method of controlling the temperature of a room having an opening therein and means for closing the opening, which comprises maintaining the room at a predetermined temperature. blowing a current of heated air downwardly across the opening when the temperature of the room near the opening is below a predetermined value, and blowing a current of heated air downwardly across the opening even though the temperature of the room is above said predetermined value when the opening is open and the temperature outside the room is below a predetermined value to prevent low temperature outside air from entering and cooling the room.

3. An apparatus for controlling the temperature of a room having a doorway, which comprises a door movable between opened and closed positions with respect to said doorway, means for heating the portion of the room adjacent to the doorway, means responsive to the temperature of the portion of the room adjacent to the doorway for controlling the heating means to maintain a predetermined temperature in said portion of the room, and means responsive to the position of the door and the temperature outside the doorway for rendering the heating means operative when the door is in an open position and the temperature outside the door is below a predetermined value.

4. An apparatus for controlling the temperature of a room having a doorway, which comprises a door movable between opened and closed positions with respect to said doorway, electrically operable means for blowing a current of heated air across the doorway, a thermostatic switch positioned outside the room and closable when the temperature outside the room is below a predetermined value, and means operable by movement of the door for rendering the heating means operative to blow a current of heated air across the doorway when the door is opened and the thermostatic switch is closed.

5. An apparatus for controlling the temperature of a room having a doorway opening into the atmosphere, which comprises a door movable between opened and closed positions with respect to said doorway, electrically operable means for belowing a current of heated air across the doorway, a thermostatic switch positioned in the portion of the room adjacent to the doorway and closable when the temperature in said portion of the room is below a predetermined value to cause the blowing means to operate and maintain a predetermined temperature in said portion of the room, a thermostatic switch positioned outside the room and closable whenthe temperature outside-*the room is below. aZ- Jredetermined value, and; means operable by movement of the door to render the blowing means operative to blow a current of heated air'across the doorway when the door is opened ar d the outside thermostatic switch is closed.

6. An apparatus for controlling the tempe ature of a room having a door opening into the atmosphere and a door opening into a heated area, which comprises means for heating the room, means responsive to the temperature of the room for controlling the heating means so as to maintain'the room at a predetermined temperature, a second heating means for blowing a current of heated air across the exterior door, means responsive to the temperature of the portion of the room adjacent to the exterior door for controlling the operation of the second heating means, a thermostatic switch positioned outside the exterior door and closable when the temperature outside the exterior door is below a predetermined value, means for opening and REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,173,555 Caldwell Feb. 29, 1916 1,832,508 Scott Nov. 17, 1931 1,872,175 Peele Aug. 16, 1932 2,366,003 Crago Dec. 26, 1944- 

